France to build £1.1million refugee camp with room for up to 3,000 people

A refugee walks among tents in a make shift camp in Grande-Synthe. (Picture: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty)

A refugee camp with space for up to 3,000 people will be built in Dunkirk, the French government has confirmed.

It will be situated near to a number of ‘shanty towns’ which have popped up near the northern coast of France over the past year.

Among these sites is a makeshift camp in Grande-Synthe, which is currently home to more than 2,500 migrants who, according to blog post La jungle de Grande-Synthe, are living in poor conditions, surrounded by vermin.

An aerial picture of Grande-Synthe, which is a make shift campsite that is home to thousands of refugees (Picture: Denis Charlet/AFP/Getty)

Along with the new official camp, the Grande-Synthe camp will be moved to a new site that will be equipped with heated tents, running water, toilets and showers to ensure it meets United Nations standards for refugee camps.

The £1.1million construction costs of the official site will be picked up by the French government which has given the green light for building works to begin, meaning the site it could be completed within weeks.

The French government agreed to pay for the facility after lobbying by Grande-Synthe mayor Damien Carême and aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières.

In a joint statement the French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve and Mr Carême said the plan would ‘provide a humanitarian response to the basic needs of the migrants, and particularly to the vulnerable groups on the site.’

People stand at a site in Grande-Synthe dubbed the ‘New Jungle’, where thousands of refugees have set up camp (Picture: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty)

The camp will be the first official one built in 13 years since the infamous Sangatte camp was closed in 2002.

Sangatte became overcrowded and was believed to be an easy springboard for the many dwellers that wanted to travel to the UK.

A man looks upset as he crouches down in a make shift camp in Grande-Synthe , which is about 29 miles from Calais and five miles from Dunkirk (Picture AFP/Philippe Huguen/Getty)

Those that tried to make the journey through the nearby Channel Tunnel experienced differing fates – some succeeded, some were injured and others even died.

The construction of the camp has garnered criticism from Conservative politicians who fear refugees will try to make the journey to Britain via the Dunkirk to Dover ferry, which is five miles from the site.

Dover to Dunkirk ferry route. (Picture: Google Maps)

MP Tim Loughton said: ‘This is a really unhelpful move by France on all fronts.

‘If they are genuine about looking after refugees then it needs to be at their point of entry rather than as a jumping-off point for the UK, where they have no right of abode.

‘This sends out an unhelpful signal to more people who are led to believe – often by illegal traffickers – that the streets of Britain are paved with gold.’